Info and age of this black and white dress from Honolulu Hawaii

Ineke Veenstra

Ineke Veenstra

Registered Guest
Like to get to know more about this cotton dress.
The top of the dress is lined. It has two pockets and a zipper at the back. The belt is adjustable. The dress is at some places sewn by hand.
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I've only seen that sort of button tab belt on 1960's dresses, however the extensive care details make me think this may be from the 1970s.
 
hello, Ineke ~ yes, Malia HAS been around since the 60s, and this dress certainly has some 60s elements, however, that care label is much more recent.

your dress is adorable, i love the print and the colorway, however, in the 90s there was a huge resurgence of retro styling in the Hawaiian apparel industry; i would date this dress to that time period, the 90s at the very oldest, and it could very well be newer than that.
 
Sorry what I meant and should have said was that, that much fabric content and care details would make it at least 1970's. I agree this style of dress can go on looking much the same through all the later decades.
Mary makes a good point about the 90's showing a resurgeance of 1960's styles (and details).
 
This is a difficult one to id as I have seen similar labels dating it to the 70s but not with the sizing indicated in this fashion.

I wonder if you tried to contact the actual company which still exists but only makes uniforms now, if they may have info about exactly when the
dress production ended. I know I have seen that sort of ribbed cotton used in the 70s but they may have continued to use it a later time as well.

I could not easily locate a website url link to them.

Uniforms By Malia Inc

98-019 Kamehameha Highway # 2
Aiea, HI 96701
Phone: (808) 487-5399

Also meant to ask, do you think there is any chance that it was shortened?
 
I did actually find a little more info on the company through the Better Business Bureau site.

the company started in 1959 - and a file was opened up with the BBB in 1989, this info found is using the Uniforms by Malia, Inc. name.

another site states the uniform company has been in business for 19 years
 
It would help if you gave us measurements of the dress to compare to the size stated on the tag...14
If it is 70s it would probably measure much smaller than a modern 14.
 
I found that the name Uniforms by Malia, Inc was incorporated in Hawaii in 1992 which would be 21 years. However, according to several articles that I have read about the company, Malia of Hawaii or later Malia, Inc. started in 1961. I also read that by the mid to late 1980's Malia had begun making "identity wear" in response to the market and it's not clear if they made women's fashion items in the late 1980's or early 1990's. I have the impression they did not.

I have the same question as Brenda about the size 14 sizing. My "gut" feeling on this dress is that it is older rather than newer - probably 1970's. It may have been shortened from a midi or maxi dress - or what Malia called "patio" dresses. How long is it?

Malia did branch out and make one line of Mu'u mu'u's but primarily they made sportswear, patio dresses and street wear. Most of their sales were outside of Hawaii.

Aloha,

Linn
 
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